Hmm yes, it is about time... Things are becoming a bit confusing, I suggest the well known image-based question before posting for the new users.

Yeah, it would be nice to have a CAPTCHA for the first n posts, where n is high enough to deter the "power levelers", then you've been vested into DevMaster and it is turned off. Should be automatable...

I agree, what's more, I'm confused how that language pattern works--there must be people who are either actually confused by it OR actually seek it out.

You mean the language in the spam posts? Well, it's not written by students of English, that's for sure. Secondly, I think it is not meant to be read by people, but rather to inflate scores for SEO. A jumble of keywords and some links...

starstutter
—
2008-12-30T16:32:22Z —
#6

I say the "well known question" plan is a good idea, but we need to make sure that its not enough of a hassle to deter new users.